Catogories

Category: Recent

Hi. Today I went to see a play of the Wizard of Oz, at the Sturts theatre in Cornwall. It took a while to get there, but we thought it was worth it, as we’ve seen other great plays there in the past; Peter Pan, Wind in the Willows… I’m still not really sure what I think about it, as I’ve seen better, but as it was not as professional as things like the Lion King, it is growing on me.

Please Note, I took this picture off their website as I didn’t take any pictures

There were many things I thought were done well, such as the amount of parts that were cast; people were always acting as animals, trees, plants, etc, which helped create the scenes, as they didn’t have any main backgrounds. They also made very good use of the space and props that they had, because as this wasn’t entirely professional, at least not like a massive London play, they didn’t have lots of different sets and scenes, and they made use of the ne they did have, (Grey, with stairs coming down in directions) and used people, rolling scenes and effects to make it almost as good as if they had better resources.

As The Wizard of Oz is a musical, the main thing that was definitely needed were good singers, that could also act. This was a good feature and I think they cast most of their characters well. There was also a large selection of musicians, that played many instruments, meaning that the music went really well with the singing.

I know that this isn’t their fault, and probably didn’t happen in the other performances that happened, but at the beginning, the sound was a bit off, Dorothy’s microphone a bit off, and the music too loud to be able to hear the actors. This thing could probably be classed as a good or a bad thing, but in the performance, there was an obvious star to the show; the lion. He was given all the jokes, he made some up as he went along, he was clearly the best singer, and his acting was the funniest and with most expression. The only bad thing about this, is that its hard to accept the other actors when the lion is there.

Overall, it was a good performance, and I and my family did have a good time seeing it. There were a few things I would have changed, but that can’t be changed now, and I would recommend you go and see it, or any play at that theatre, to see what you think.

On half of the family holidays i’ve been on, growing up, I have stayed in a yurt. For those of you that don’t know what that is, its “a circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible framework” So I thought I would share with you what I think are the advantages and disadvantages of staying in one.

My Advantages

For me, I see my family a lot more, when in a smaller space. At home, everyone seems to stay in their own rooms not really communicating much half the time, and so when sharing a room for everything, people are brought together for games, chats and days out. It really helps improve family relationships.

We spend a LOT more time outside. At home, when all our distractions are inside, we tend to stay there. But in a yurt, as our options are limited, most of the things we do are outside: walks, campfires, beach, bike rides, etc. We also actually take advantage of the sun when its there, and even the things we could do inside, we do outside. Which is great as you get more exercise and fresh air.

Just the whole idea of it. Several things make it perfect, it all being in one room is good; as my room seems never to be tidy I never know where anything is, but in a yurt, everything is in one room and much easier to find! I also love the location of the yurt we stay in, where we are alone in a field, just surrounded by countryside and wildlife.

My Disadvantages

Bad baths and showers. Really, this is possibly the harshest thing I could have said, and I’m only saying it because there was nothing else! The showers aren’t bad, the only problem is that it is outside and solar powered, and there is never guaranteed hot water. If you go and stay in a yurt, your shower may be fine, so didn’t listen to me and take this as a every-yurt thing. Also, bugs and slugs always seem to find a way in!

Coldness…This is more advice than a bad thing; don’t underestimate the cold-temperature! This really depends on when you go, and what the weather is like, but just because its made of material, doesn’t mean its any warmer than a tent at night. So make sure you pack warm clothes!

So thats it. As you can see, there are more advantages than disadvantages. I would recommend this to anyone, particularly for people new to camping, as its not as full-on as being in a tent, as it has a hob, furniture and beds in, but it still feels like camping.

Today, our school contributed to the race for life charity, which supports breast cancer. The girls in all years, (years 7-13) take part in running 5k for charity, and we all thoroughly enjoyed running and supporting the charity, by donating £2 each, and wearing pink whist running to represent the cause. We do this every year, and I think that this year was my most enjoyable, with music playing from loudspeakers from all over the track, and teachers shouting encouragement to all the students passing by. I think its important to do things like this as it shows you how much you can do to help, and gives you an opportunity to understand what a difference it makes.

We all manages to run 5k in under 50minutes, me and most of my friends running it in about 30, which we were all pleased with as it is improvement from last year. As much as I felt glad for helping the charity, I also loved running this race, as its not generally the path I go for, its more sitting down and reading a book or something else un-sporty, but this was great fun and I hope to be doing it more often. I would totally recommend doing this, whether for charity or just for the appreciation of running, but you can make a difference if you try and that way you can feel like you’ve helped someone.

They gave out medals to the top 50 runners, and I think I came near the end of that 50, but I managed to scrape through and get one. I am proud that I did this, and hope next year comes again soon.

Earlier today, I came up with the idea of sharing with you my top 5 books for summer. Some of these books I may have already displayed on my blog as a book review, in which case you can find out more about it, but with every one, even ones with special posts, I will explain why I have chosen it and what it is about. These should be able to inspire you to 1. Read more over the summer, and 2. Check out some new books. I love each of these, and if you decide to give them a try, I hope you do too.

I Capture the Castle- By Dodie Smith: I love this book for many reasons, it has relatable characters, an interesting, engaging plot, and an old and modern feeling at the same time. It was written in 1948, and therefore is in language we wouldn’t necessarily use now, but it is reasonably easy to understand. I think I found it after watching the film, which is surprisingly almost as good, and so a great place to start if you aren’t up for reading the book. I find it summery because it sort of visits all the seasons, and has a fresh cleanish feel about it.

Feeling Sorry for Celia- By Jaclyn Moriarty: This book consists of letters from different people, and is about writing to PenPals from different schools. I’m not really sure why I chose this as a summery book, it is certainly enlighten, happy, and mostly an enjoyable summer read. I love its format, swapping between characters to get to know others better. It has characters with a lot to say, many personalities and good intentions.

The Year Of The Rat- Clare Furniss: This wasn’t my immediate thought when I wanted to come up with books, but I read it recently and thought it deserved a place on here. It’s topic isn’t all flowery and summery like others and has some depressing topics to deal with, but also shows hope and calmness when needed. It takes place in all the months of the year, and has a story you are likely not to forget. Its really moving, and you feel as if you are growing with the main character, Rose.

Ingo- Helen Dunmore: I read this quite a while ago, but I now see why it is summery. It takes place by the sea, which gives it a summery, holiday feel, and also is based on mer-people, which also people relate with summer and the sea. I love it because I never seem to read books like it any more, the type of fantasy, unreal books. But this was different, I guess like most fantasy authors, Helen Dunmore had tried to make the mer aspect seem as real as possible, and she succeeded. It was well written, had interesting topics, if a bit sad. It is written for children younger than me, maybe 11+, but it can still be enjoyable for all ages.

Infinite Sky- C. J. Flood: This book came in set of coming-of-age books I got for christmas about 2 years ago, and I can certainly give it a well earned 4/5. It can sometimes seem like a harsh, worrying book, as the topic is not a fun, jokey one, but it holds together and all ends well. The characters have their ups and downs, with different emotions, thoughts and worries between them. It also seems summery because of the changes in atmosphere because I don’t know about you, but I have mixed feelings for summer, sometimes its great and sunny, everyone enjoying themselves, but then its sticky and humid, staying inside. The plot of the characters is a bit like that.

I tried to pick out authors and books that you may not have heard of, as I like encouraging others to read books that aren’t necessarily popular. If I say put a book like the Hunger Games on my list, it would be useless as pretty much everyone has read it already, and that is not the point of introducing others to books! Soon, I hope to blog about books I want to read over the summer, so comment if you have any suggestions, bye for now,

Hi, throughout the past few months, children in a few surrounding villages, aged 7-14 put together a production of the play/film Annie. We followed the rough script and songs to the old film, and together all enjoyed the outcome as we performed it twice last weekend. It was a great experience, and a second for most of us as last year we put on a production of Oliver! For Annie, I was the Dog Catcher, and Drake: The Butler. We spent most Saturdays and Wednesdays for about 7 weeks rehearsing for the big days which was not long, considering we all had to learn lines, get props, prepare costumes, rehearse scenes over and over again until it was all perfect.

I don’t really have much else to say, except for the fact that me and my friends enjoyed it thoroughly and would do it again if we had another opportunity. For a lot of people, it was their first time on the stage, but if you are considering doing anything to do with acting, singing or even behind the scenes prop making or designing when you are older, a small play or pantomime near you could be the perfect place to start, and even if it isn’t that serious or great quality it should be fun. We were lucky to have had an amazing director, that put a great deal of work into the play helping us both on stage and off, and it was made even better by the fact that she does acting and a singer. We also had people helping to get the level standard higher, people doing jobs like: The lighting, sets, sounds, music (Piano and Harmonica covered most songs) and prompter. This made the play so great and i wish I could thank everyone more.

Hoped you liked this and that it will inspire you to do something creative like this, i’ll be posting again soon, a recipe I think as I haven’t done any cooking posts in a while, Bye,

Yesterday I went to London to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. I don’t generally like London, so I don’t think I was looking forward to it as much as the rest of my family were…but in the end I enjoyed it as much as everyone else. It took an hour and a half to reach the stop we wanted on two trains, and after, we had to walk to a restaurant to stop for lunch. We ended up eating at Côte, a french restaurant which we had never eaten at before. It turned out really nice, and we all enjoyed it- even though I didn’t eat particularly french food!- I ate chips and salad, with a massive praline crêpe for dessert, shown below.

After lunch we made our way to the Lyceum theatre where the Lion King was being held. It wasn’t as big as I had expected which calmed me a little as I don’t really like crowded places, and we managed to get fairly good seats which meant we could see the stage clearly enough. After the play started, I grew fairly optimistic of the whole thing, the amazing costumes just one factor. The animal costumes weren’t made to look like real animals, they were cleverly designed to move with sticks or wires, but it was clear to see the actor inside or on the produced animal. But when the stage turned dark and you could only see their silhouettes, the costumes and masks made it hard to tell whether it was a real animal or costume…!

The sets were brilliant too, at least fifteen different scenes that slid down into place at the right moments. They were very cleverly designed and were used at their full potential. I don’t think there was a thing about it I didn’t like, the songs were the best i’ve heard in a musical, and the actors skilled and talented, just right for their parts. I would thoroughly recommend going to see int if you have the chance, as it is one of the best experiences in London i’ve ever had. The link to The Lion King website is down below if you want to find out any info.

This is another Mix-up post full of random updates I wanted to share and post. Firstly I want to recommend another blog that is a follower of mine and also writes blogs on some of the same subjects- Book reviews, cooking etc. Her name is beluwasstories.wordpress.com

I think that I might take a break from writing blogs for a while, as my exam week is coming up, and I have lots of revision to work on as well as my normal homework. I will still write them when I have the time, and schedule them for times after the 1st of June, when I will continue to write. Please don’t expect any until then, when the usual blogs will appear.

This may sound a little too boring to add to a blog post to you, but for me its a memory that I want to remember. Last week I was on holiday with some friends and family, in Exmoor where, some of our friends live. On the second day we went to a beach, where we all had the best time we’ve had there. Here are some of the photos that me and friends took while on the beach that day.